Mesa condo owners remove HOA board

Disgruntled homeowners at east Mesa’s Superstition Lakes condo complex have succeeded in removing their three-member homeowners association board in a long-awaited recall election.

Sixty-seven condo owners voted to recall President Michael Cassady, Vice President Eric Branstrom and Treasurer Wayne Erting amid allegations of financial misconduct, according to community manager Mitch Kellogg Jr. Thirty-six voted to keep them on the board.

The remaining 31 condo owners either didn’t vote or were disqualified from voting.

“With recalls in particular, it’s rare to find that amount of agreement in the community,” said Kellogg, of Metro Property Services. “And if there is a recall election, it’s typically for a rogue board member, one in particular that is completely out of bounds. Very rarely do you find a community getting rid of their whole board.”

Metro Property Services began managing Superstition Lakes on May 1, after PMG Services severed ties with the community April 30. Homeowners had been circulating a petition questioning the validity of thousands of dollars in board expenditures and reimbursements to Cassady, including several meals and alcoholic drinks consumed on the association’s dime.

The incumbents’ opponents also claimed they’d been blocked from seeing a full set of financial records and generally participating in the board’s decisions, alleging “election interference” in the selection of its members.

The group took the HOA officers to court in May in an unsuccessful attempt to get the board placed into receivership. Erting and Cassady testified that the meals were justified by the hard work and long hours they put in throughout the year; an accountant who had previously audited the association’s finances said the board was financially strong despite the “few items ... coming into question.”

While rejecting receivership, the judge ordered the HOA board to address the residents’ petition to remove them and allow a recall election. The meeting to review the votes and announce the results, held last Friday, lasted six minutes, according to homeowners.

“I was absolutely thrilled with the participation in the voting,” said Kathleen Daurio, who supported the recall and had testified at the receivership hearing. “There were some people that were emotional (after the results were read). We were almost giddy.”

Jan Stuart, who helped to organize and lead the opposition and eventually brought on an attorney for help, called the recall a “huge victory.”

“I think, in total, I’ve spent about 400 hours working on this since December,” she said. “One of the reasons I started to do this was because I wanted to draw awareness. I’d like people to know they can fight back against these bully HOA boards, but to do it they have to demand their rights, and sometimes, unfortunately, they have to go to court to get them.”

Homeowners interested in replacing one of the board members have 30 days to nominate themselves. Ballots based on those nominations will go out July 21, and the new board will be announced Aug. 21. Metro Property Services will serve as the community administrator in the interim, Kellogg said.

“We’ll facilitate emergency repairs ... but we don’t necessarily have the ability to make any big decisions,” he said. “As far as firing or hiring a vendor or something like that, that always requires some kind of board approval. All of those things will have to wait.”

It also will be up to the new board to decide whether to hire a forensic, or investigative, auditor and pursue charges against the former board members.

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